Wine With Dinner
by Scepidilionz
Summary: Hanji seems awfully skittish when she invites Levi over for dinner, what could be on her mind? Levi has a choice to make before they depart for Shiganshina. Fluffy.


"Sure! Come over later, I'll make something quick. It'll be fun." Hanji's invitation echoed in his mind as he stood, looking up at rows of various white wines. Red was too serious according to the stout boutique owner, who reminded him of Rod Reiss and was now busy tending to other customers. He had insisted Levi purchase white wine. Levi wanted to make this quick, however he hadn't anticipated the sheer variety available. The taupe and mauve coloured labels provided no clue as to the flavour inside. This was too much. He didn't know enough about wine to make an educated decision, so he reached out and bought the first bottle his hand fell upon, and hoped Hanji would find it satisfactory. He was running late, it had already been thirty minutes.

He pulled at his shirt collar, buttoned a little too tightly in place of his usual cravat. Should he lower it? No, Hanji had already opened the door before he could knock, "Levi! Glad you made it, I'm running a little behind." She stepped aside to let him in, a moderately shy grin on her face, "I can't help but wonder what everyone else is doing right now." The survey corps had disbanded for dinner, their budget was tight, and everyone was on their own to secure food for the night.

"Most are heading home." It was almost a blessing in disguise, for those who had living family and could take the overnight trip to see them. For those who didn't, maybe they coalesced into small groups of friends around those who knew how to cook. Apparently, Hanji was among those skilled few. "I think Jean organized something." He set the bottle of wine down on the kitchen counter, rank came with a few upgrades. "Smells good." He complimented, removing his usual grimace. One could call it his smile, though a hard-to-notice smile.

"Thanks, I'm sort of figuring it out as I go." So much for skill. She poured some wine into pot filled with berries, already rolling to a boil. In other pot, potatoes rolled furiously through a frothy pot, threatening to spill over. "AH! Pfff! Pffftt!" The steam fizzled down with a stir. "A watched pot over boils." She turned his shoulders away, marching him towards the table, where dinnerware and glasses were already set.

"Hanji." He stopped, digging his feet into the floor. He brought them to a stop. "You lied to me."

"Hm? I know not to which you refer." She gave a nudge, "Go!"

His eyes sat on the decor in the middle of the table, a shallow bowl filled with smooth stones nested a bottle of _red_ wine. "It seems we both came prepared." He thought up quick, mentally still mentally catching up. What was Hanji thinking? Had he forgotten something?

"Yeah, I know it is not often we get to do something like this." She stood beside him, taking both wines into her hands, trying to decide between the two; which was rather difficult for someone who was clueless about wines. "I wanted to get something nice." Her tone shallowed as she began to fall into a painful reverie, one they all knew too well. There was no guarantee that they would every get to do something like this again.

"Hanji." He rested her arm on her shoulder, "The potatoes are overboiling again."

"Shit!" Hanji bolted over, throwing her rug askew, getting back into cooking mode. "Give me a minute, pick one and pour." A smile lit her eyes behind fogged glasses.

He had a choice to make. Red or White. Did it really have to be this complicated?

"By the way!" Hanji held a pot up, stirring rapidly, pouring excess water into the drain, "It's been… seven years."  
"Since?"

"Well, ten since we met. But seven since the 34th expedition. You know, when we…" Her back was to him, doing something in to cooking. She pretended to get distracted by it, but it was obvious that her mind was racing on the topic. So was his. He looked back to the bottles in his hands, it was their anniversary. As close to an anniversary as he would ever know. "Fun fact!"

"Seven, huh?" She obviously wasn't mad that he had forgotten. He forgot every year until she brought it up. He rubbed his thumb over one of the labels, _lucky seven._ Could he let his guard down? Hanji was always here, perhaps the most consistent person in his life. If he took a deep breath, would this be taken away from him?

She paused, "I know. I can't believe it's already been seven years." She met his eyes, not saying anything, but so much emotion captured in her eyes, as if she was choking. "Shiganshina… We have a plan, but you know how it is." Plans mean nothing out there. "This is big. I don't think it is going to be easy, the enemy knows we want to seal the wall…"

"You don't need to explain it to me, glasses." He cracked open a bottle, preparing both of their glasses and setting them in their proper place. "I know." He knew more than anyone.

Sometimes she thought she couldn't take it anymore, but then she remembered that if she didn't keep going, death would be in vain. Human life is a small price to pay for freedom. Would she be able to give her own life if it meant liberation for the rest of humanity? She pledged her heart time and time again, but death?

"Hanji." Levi was beside he now, "Get your swansong out of you head." He was her emotional reprise. Moblit kept her wired energy reigned in during the day, but when her emotions tempered at night, she often got stooped in her thoughts. Research distracted her from this, kept her brain occupied so she couldn't ponder her own troubles, insecurities, interests. She didn't seem to be snapping out of it, neurons firing off behind her eyes at the speed of light. "Hm."

He raised his hand and brought it down in an arc, and with a loud clap Hanji felt his hand smack her behind and being her back to reality, "Hey!" She shouted.

"Hey."

"Hey?"

"..." He nodded, passing her the dishes so she could serve the plates. Cooked berries, potatoes, and rump steak. "Hanji, is there something on your mind?" Usually when he came over it was a rollercoaster of emotion. She usually had some problem on her mind, a question she couldn't answer. She would get so wrapped up into research to the point of emotional fatigue, and then Levi would help her glue the pieces she had noticed together, and they would come to a solution. "Did Eren remember something else? Do you have a clue about Shiganshina?"

She shook her head, putting their lush dinner on the table. "I have a lot on my mind."

That much was obvious. "Tell me." He pulled out her chair, and sat down after her. "You already know what you have to do Hanji, whatever it is." Hanji folded her hands in front of her face, looking down at her food. She didn't even feel like eating anymore.

Levi took a bite of the potatoes, waiting for Hanji to formulate what she wanted to say. There was no need to rush, he intended on being here all night anyway. An occasional sleepover was not unheard of between the two. She reached for a her wine, if she was going to talk, she was going to need to be drunk. "You chose mine."

He nodded, "Yeah." He planned on leaving the one he purchased as a gift.

They sat in silence for a moment before Levi chirped up one more time:

"Well, it's our anniversary." This earned a smile from Hanji, who tucked her loose hair behind her ear to keep it out of her face, and she brought her glas towards her face, taking a good sniff of the wine. Her sources were right, the wine was delicious. "Whatever it is, you can just tell me, Hanji. What is on your mind?"

Hanji paused mid-sip to look at him, "Well, it's just that...I love you."

He froze, suddenly more afraid to look at her than he had ever been. This was what she had been planning to tell him, acting squirrely all day. She… loved him. "Please don't die." He bit his lip, fighting a crack in his voice. Everyone who had ever loved him left. Farlan, Isabel, Kenny, Petra. She was staring right into his soul, he felt like squirming in his shirt, the collar now chafing his neck, "I… Wouldn't be able to do any of this without you." They had lived through too much loss together. The table now seems to form an island between them, "I need you." He met her eyes, he felt like he was holding her soul in his hands, "I will protect you, no matter what." Erwin had named her the next Commander, and if it ever came to that, she would be in more danger than ever. More stress than ever. More eyes watching her every move, looking for weaknesses. He wasn't going to let someone he loved get hurt again, not Hanji.

"I am not going anywhere, Levi." She reached over, across the table to grab his hand, seeing emotion in his eyes. He was upset, worried, "Hey, listen to me." Their roles now reversed, Levi seemed to be vulnerable. She didn't mean to stir up these emotions in him, but the looming threat of being separated from him… Permanently… It always terrified her. He was all she had left. Too many friends had been lost, "I cannot give my life for anyone but you. I love you."

He stood, gently guiding her with him into an embrace, "I love you too."

"Cheers!" Squad Levi threw their glasses into the air, mugs of beer filled their bellies with dinner, courtesy of Jean's mother, who was eager to have her son and his friends over for dinner once again. "For once we get to have fun before they send us off to our deaths." Jean whispered to Armin, who elbowed him in the gut. He wasn't going to let Jean sour the mood. There was courage in the air. They had been laughing all night, Armin's sides hurt. Jean wouldn't stop tickling him every time he took a sip.

"It almost feels empty." Sasha said, looking around. Mikasa nodded in agreement, tearing off a piece of breaking for herself. She couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"It's because the captain isn't here." Mikasa said, taking a bite. His presence normally took up so much space in the room.

"Oh! I wonder what he's doing right now!" Connie said, looking to the others. "Have you ever wondered what the captain does during free time? It's not like he takes a nap. And what about the section commander?"

Armin paused, placing his hand on his chin. Something was on the tip of his tongue, when he saw Jean's mother's wine rack. "Hanji-san had asked me for advice about wines the other day, right after Commander Erwin said we would be getting this break."

" _Wine?!"_ Historia leaned in towards the table, "What did she decide on?"

Armin leaned back to try and remember, "Ah, it was a really important event. I think we talked about a cabernet."

Historia and Mikasa made eye contact, and the blonde wiggled her eyebrows. Jean caught on quickly, and burst on laughing while Eren and Connie called for an explanation. "I overheard Hanji invite him over tonight." Historia smiled, emotions varied from shock to disgust throughout the room. "What? It was cute!"

"Oh my god." Jean let out a small chuckle, returning Armin's elbow, "You helped Hanji seduce Levi."

Armin let out a snort, shaking his head, Hanji had been too wired. It wasn't like Levi and Hanji hadn't been together before, only a fool wouldn't notice. Yet when she came up to Armin a few days ago, her hair was messier than usual, glasses crooked, as if she had been fidgeting a lot. She couldn't stop blushing either. At the time, he just thought the section commander looked sick. Now? "No, Jean. I think it's more than that."


End file.
